The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace | Dr. David Jeremiah | Ephesians 6:15

What is the Armor of God?

Message Description:

When you envision a suit of armor, you might not think about footwear. But God does, and His special armor for believers includes a pair of shoes. Dr. David Jeremiah considers the sanctifying role of this spiritual footwear.

In essence, Jesus is saying, don’t be ungrateful for the provision that you have.
You cannot be fighting for the lord while not trusting him for the very basic things that he’s promised.
You can’t go out into combat and be a warrior for the lord Jesus Christ, while at the same time you’re distrusting his very basic concern, and care for you as one of his children.
And he asks this question, don’t be ungrateful for the provision you have.
Be confident in what god has done for you.
If you don’t have the peace that comes from trusting god for the very provisions of your life, you will be unable to fight in the war.
What is it that god has done? I always like to say this.
He’s given us food to put in, a shelter to put over, clothes to put on, And that’s basically what we need, isn’t it?
He’s given us everything that we need.
And so if you read this passage and you think about what peace means in the spiritual warfare, you can’t fight spiritual warfare if you do not trust the one who has promised to care for you.
We have been studying from the book of Ephesians in the 6th chapter.
What in the world does it mean that we’re to put on the armor of god so that we can enter into spiritual warfare and be successful.
In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1415, we read these words.
Stand therefore having girded your waste with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Stu Weber is a former green beret captain, and he writes about the importance of our shoes if we are in the military.
He said, historically, far more soldiers on the battlefield have been immobilized by foot problems.
Than have gone down from bullets. This was certainly true in Vietnam.
Many a platoon sergeant in those jungles felt the most critical part of his job was to be a foot care specialist.
Sometimes he felt more like a nurse or a mother than he did as a leader of a lean mean fighting machine.
Change your socks, boys, became the regular mantra, Take your boots off, dry your feet, powder them up, or you’re no good to this unit, feet were important.
In the Vietnam war. The Roman soldier from which this whole analogy comes wore thick, sold, hobnailed shoes or sandals, And the sandals were held on his feet by thick leather straps on the bottom of the soles were spikes made of little pieces of metal, enabling the soldier to be sure footed in battle.
And even on the slickest ground, they could stand in hand to hand combat and not slip back.
So, Paul, using this analogy from the Roman Armor took from the context of Roman warfare, the concept of having a good foundation so that when we go into the battle we have the opportunity to win.
And we are told in the context that the Christian soldiers’ boots, listen to this, are the preparation of the gospel of peace.
That’s what it says. That’s the name of your shoes in the armor of the believer.
The word preparation comes from a Greek word, which means readiness or firmness.
We have been learning about Satan during these days, and we have learned that Satan is the destroyer of peace.
His purpose in coming to this earth was to bring separation between man and god and to bring division between man and man follow his career and everywhere you look, there’s division and separation.
When we do combat with Satan, we must possess the weapon that will enable us to withstand the particular attack that he’s making upon us.
And that implement of warfare, according to the scripture, is the gospel of peace.
Now, let’s talk about that for just a moment.
And the relationship of the shoes that we wear to the rest of the armor, especially the part of the armor we’ve already learned about.
First of all, it is important that we see the relationship of our shoes to everything else that god has given us to equip us.
Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life.
So when we put on the truth, we put on Christ When we studied the breastplate of righteousness, we learned that the righteousness that protects us is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
That has been imparted to us, we are dressed up in the position of the righteousness of Christ.
And likewise, we are to remember that in Jesus Christ, we have peace. We have peace in Christ.
Ephesians 2 14 says, he himself is our peace.
The gospel of peace, as we appropriate that truth in our lives, We can go forward into the battle and be victorious.
The relationship of the shoes to the rest of the armor is a very logical one. Think about this.
We start with the truth, which brings us to righteousness, which results in peace.
Because we have been declared righteous in Christ, we are now at peace with god.
Romans 51 puts it this way, therefore having been just fied by faith, we have peace with god through our lord Jesus Christ.
Our hearts are at peace, says, Paul.
And since we are justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord Jesus Christ.
How many of you know that before you became a Christian? You were an enemy of god.
You were at enmity with god.
Now, you may not have been an active enemy, but you were a passive one before you came to Christ, you had your fist close to god saying, I can do this myself.
I don’t need you. But when you trust Christ, he brings to you the end of all of your hostility with god.
The war’s over with god, and now you’re at peace with him.
And the result of that is calmness and courage in your heart.
The peace of god surpasses all understanding, and it guards our hearts and our minds through Jesus Christ.
So the relationship of our shoes to the rest of the armor is simply this.
We start with truth, the truth of god, the truthfulness in us.
We move from truth to righteousness, the righteousness of Christ and our own practical righteousness and from righteousness, we move to peace.
How many of you know that if you start with the truth and you get the righteousness of Christ, you have a heads up on peace in your heart.
The battle is over. The ultimate battle has been won, and you can now settle down and be confident in who you are in Jesus Christ.
Now, let’s talk secondly about the requirement of the shoes for this armor.
Let me suggest to you that the requirement of the shoes for the armor is so evident, we must have this in order to fight the war.
Jesus said in Luke chapter 21 and verse 26, that in the last days, men’s hearts would be failing them for fear as they contemplate what is coming to pass on this earth.
Now, I know that that passage speaks about some of the early stages of the tribulation period.
But how many of you know that before the tribulation period starts, some of these things will be evident in I don’t know if we’re there yet, but I do know one thing men’s hearts are failing them for fear.
I know that for sure. So whether we’re in that particular time or not, this verse of scripture is very appropriate, men’s hearts, failing them for fear because they don’t know any of the answers.
And here we are, the people of god.
We’re ready for armor And god has given us a foundation of peace, and we walk into this ambivalent world filled with all of the concern and the challenges, and we become a reflection of the peace of god to the world around us.
Anxiety is at an all time high, And so, basically, what we need is we need peace, don’t we?
We need a sense of inner security, uh, a sense that uh, with everything that’s going on around us, it doesn’t affect the the the center of who we are.
And that’s what the shoes are for, they’re to give us this foundation of peace so that as we go into the war and and we fight the battle, we’re not wondering where we stand.
We know where we stand. We stand in the presence of the peace of god which he has given to us.
That brings us to the 3rd thing.
We’ve talked about the relationship of the shoes to the armor and the requirement of it, why it’s necessary.
Let’s talk about the reasons for the shoes.
If you have your bibles open, turn over to the book of Matthew, if you had to go to one passage in the scripture that talks about anxiety, and worry.
And there’s only one passage you could go to. That’s the 6th chapter of Matthew.
In Matthew chapter 6, we are given the prescription for worry And I’ve always loved this passage.
I’ve preached a number of sermons on it.
But here, we are reminded as we look at Matthew chapter 6, that the reasons why we need peace are evident to us.
1st of all, without choose, without peace, We become ungrateful people.
In verse 25, it says, therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.
This last question is rhetorical in this verse.
In essence, Jesus is saying, don’t be ungrateful for the provision that you have.
You cannot be fighting for the lord while not trusting him for the very basic things that he’s promised.
You can’t go out into combat and be a warrior for the lord Jesus Christ while at the same time you’re trusting his very basic concern and care for you as one of his children.
And he asks this question, don’t be ungrateful for the provision you have.
Be confident in what god has done for you.
If you don’t have the peace that comes from trusting god for the varied provisions of your life, you will be unable to fight in the war.
And what is it that God has done? I always like to say this.
He’s given us food to put in a shelter to put over, clothes to put on, And that’s basically what we need, isn’t it?
He’s given us everything that we need.
And so, if you read this passage and you think about what peace means, in the spiritual warfare.
You can’t fight spiritual warfare if you do not trust the one who has promised to care for you, you need to back up, take a good long look at what he has said, and recognize you can be settled down in your spirit because almighty god has promised to care for your needs.
So if you don’t have your shoes on, if you don’t have peace, you become ungrateful.
And if you don’t have on your shoes, you become unreasonable. Notice 26.
He says, look at the birds of the air. They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns yet.
Your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?
Jesus in this passage of scripture says, here are the birds that he cares for.
You worry all about what’s going on in your life. You’re all said about everything that’s happening.
I want you to use the birds for an example.
They don’t even know enough to sow and they don’t know enough to reap.
But the father takes care of them because he loves them.
And here’s the question, are you not more important to him than the birds are?
Do you think the father would care for the bird and not take care of you, that is not even reasonable.
It is not reasonable to believe that.
So it’s illogical if the of the universe cares for the birds and the lilies of the field, doesn’t he care for you?
And if he does, you can rest shured in that. You can settle down in that truth.
You’re getting a picture here when you have peace with god.
It’s a settled down kind of situation where you’re not fretting every day about the things that the rest of the world frets about because you have come to understand this confidence in god.
Without choose your ungrateful, unreasonable. And number 3, without choose your unproductive. Here’s the next verse in Matthew 6.
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Now, you can worry all you want, but you can’t change anything. Worry never changes anything.
It might change your digestive system. That’s about it.
What I’ve discovered about worry and anxiety is this, that about 90% of everything I’m prone to worry about never happens.
Worries always about future things that we don’t have any control over And so, if you don’t exemplify the peace of god, if you are constantly worrying, how are you gonna do battle with the enemy?
The Bible says, you’ve gotta put on the shoes of peace.
You’ve gotta get past worrying about the things everybody else worries about. What good is it due to worry?
That is the whole point not to have your shoes on is unproductive to think that you can go through your life take care of all the circumstances of your life by yourself, trying to fight the war without the peace of god, it is not going to work.
You’ve got to be able to trust the one who has called you into battle.
And without Jews, this is pretty rough, but without Jews, you’re unchristian. Notice what it says in verses 3132.
Therefore, do not worry. Do not lack peace in your life saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?
For after all these things, the gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.
Now, the word gentiles is often translated in the Bible, uh, by the word pagans, it means those who don’t know god.
It is simply an observation that if you get all hung up over all the basics You are no different than the world.
So you’re supposed to be fighting the world. Now you’re acting like the world. What side are you on?
God says, settle down into my provision for you, take knowledge of the peace that I provided and the promises that I have given.
And then there’s one more without choose your unprepared, but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Don’t worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow, we’ll worry about its own things sufficient until the day is its own trouble.
Can get a witness. Isn’t that true? Every day brings its own set of issues.
Every day brings its own set of challenges.
But every day also brings the sufficiency of the god who is our peace, the god who has promised to provide everything we need.
And when we trust in him, we can go forward in strength.
David said, cast your burden on the lord, and he will sustain you.
And Peter wrote casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. Now, here’s the issue, folks.
You can’t be strong in the battle if you don’t have confidence in your commander in chief.
And he who has called you to battle is none other than the captain of your salvation, the lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says he is our peace.
That becomes the foundation upon which we stand, and we go forward with this sense that While all of the world is in turmoil, we live in kind of the center of the storm secure in the peace of god, which is in the lord Jesus Christ.
Now, we’ve talked about how this relates to the rest of the armor, how we are required to do this in order to be successful and all the reasons for it.
Let’s finish up by talking about how we requisition the shoes? How do we get this piece?
We have to go and requisition this piece of equipment. What do we do?
I like to suggest you several things that Bible says about peace, that might be meaningful to all of us here.
Some, some of these things to some and some of these things to others.
First of all, in order to have peace, you have to meet the author of peace.
And who is the author of peace? How do I have peace in my life?
Peace with god comes when I become a Christian, peace of god settles in in my heart as I walk in the Christian life, But here are some scriptures that will help you get your arms around what it means to meet the author of peace.
First Corinthians 1433 says, god is not the author of confusion, but god, and we often talk about that part of the verse, but the rest of it, we forget He’s not the author of confusion, but he’s the author of what class.
He’s the author of peace. Hebrews 1320 calls him the god of peace. That’s his name.
Topians 49 says, the god of peace will be with you.
First Thessalonians 523 says, the god of peace himself will completely sanctify you.
And then 2nd Thessalonians 316 says, now may the lord of peace give you peace always in every way?
There are 4 scriptures right there that tell us who god is, who the lord is.
He’s the god of peace. He’s the lord of peace.
And god Jesus Christ into this world to be your savior.
He wants you to come to know the peace that you can have with god.
When god created you, he created you with a god shaped vacuum, uh, in your heart.
And until god is at home there because you in him into your life and ask him to be your savior, you are always turning, you’re always uneasy.
And what we do is we go around, we try to stuff everything into that space we try entertainment.
We might even try football. We try all kinds of things to find happiness, and we discover how disappointing they all are.
Because you see, we were made specifically by our creator to be incomplete until Jesus Christ becomes our savior.
So I wanna ask you this question. Have you met the author of peace? Are you a Christian?
If you’re looking for peace in this generation, there is no there’s no way around it comes through Jesus Christ and through him alone.
He is the lord of peace.
Secondly, if you’ve met the author of peace, maybe you should meditate on the prince of peace a little bit.
Isaiah 26 verse 3 is one of my favorite verses, and this is what it said, you will keep him in peace whose mind is state upon you because he trusts in you.
Literally the verse is kind of an interesting verse. It has a double Hebrew construction.
It says you will keep him in peace peace whose mind is stayed on you.
How do you get the peace in the inner part of your being?
Well, you get it by coming to know Christ and coming to know who he is and meditating upon him and keeping him central in your thought.
Listen to the verse again. You will keep him in peace, how whose mind is stayed upon you.
In other words, the Bible says, you can have peace, not only through Jesus Christ as your savior, but once he becomes your savior, you stay close to him, and he becomes the focus of your life.
Thirdly, you can requisition your shoes of peace by manifesting the spirit of peace in your life.
The Bible says that peace is the inevitable result of the spirit of god controlling your life.
The Bible says if you are filled with the spirit the fruit of the spirit will be love and joy.
And what’s the 3rd one class? Peace.
If you are controlled by the spirit of god, god’s peace will be an evident characteristic of your life.
How can I tell if I’m controlled by the spirit of god by the quietness within me when there’s turmoil around me?
Have you ever been around somebody like that?
I’ve been around a few people like that who just exhibit this, and it’s such an incredible thing.
They can be going through the worst storm of their life And when you’re with them, you wish you could figure out how do they stay so calm in the midst of all of this?
Well, if they’re Christians, we know how.
They have come to know the peace of god through the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in their life.
Here’s a 4th thing that helps you requisition this peace as a Christian. Memorize the word of peace.
And I know I’ve said memory twice today, so forgive me. I’ll try not to say it next week.
Memory is a very bad thing for people after you get past 40, don’t ask me to memorize anything, right, memories for little kids, memories for the Bible Memory Association, members for your verses that you learn before you go to Sunday school.
But let me just sort of rattle the cage a little bit. Adults can memorize too.
It may be harder but it will be more meaningful because you’ll have more insight into the ministry of the word of god.
I got a book from a friend of mine, uh, Rob Morgan, who does a lot of writing for our magazine and such a wonderful writer.
And he’s written a book called a 100 Bible verses you should know and why you should know them.
And he’s picked out what he believes are the 100 most important verses in the Bible, and he’s written a little chapter on every one of them.
And you can go to his website, and find all of this material along with cards that you can pull out to help you memorize what he considers to be the top 100 verses you should know from the Bible.
Now, wouldn’t that be a pretty cool thing to do?
You’d say 100 versus, well, some of them are real easy. So, you know, the easy ones maybe are 30.
So you got 70. And probably of those 70, you might know 5. So now you’re down to 65.
So, you know, wouldn’t it be great? And here’s how he’s done it.
You get the verse, you see it printed out, and then he writes a little chapter about the verse that helps you understand what it means, which makes it far easier for you to remember the content of the verse.
When you get the word of god in your life, it helps you deal with the problems and stresses that you find all around you.
Memorize the word of peace. And then there’s one last one, and that is measure your life by the rule of peace Colashians 315 says this.
Let the peace of god rule in your heart.
And you know what the word rule is in the language of the new testament? It’s the word empire.
Let the peace of god umpire in your heart. Have you ever known that?
Have you had people say, well, you know, I’d like to do this, but I just don’t have any peace about it.
That’s not something you should turn your head away from.
I believe that god uses the sense of peace in your heart to confirm and to direct your life.
So when you put on these shoes of peace, measure your life by the rule of peace and let that rule make a difference cultivate that in your heart.
Cultivate it in your life. Don’t push it away and realize too that emotions can sometimes masquerade is god’s peace.
But I know that when I’ve really needed the peace of god to confirm a decision, he supplied it He’s always been faithful to do that.
Peace, and we’re getting prepared to do battle with the enemy.
And now, with one last word for today’s program. Here is Doctor Jeremiah.
There are lots of places in the world to get new shoes when we need them.
But there is only one place where you can find shoes of peace.
And for my observations, people need shoes of peace more than any other kind.
The Bible is very clear. Peace with God only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
And I would love to help you find personal peace with god by sending you 2 Turning Point Resources, absolutely free of charge.
What is a booklet called your greatest turning point?
And the other is our monthly devotional magazine turning points based on the by these resources will be a great encouragement to you, and we will gladly send them to you free of charge if you will contact us here at Turning Point.
Next time on Turning Point.
We don’t get to choose the things that happen to us.
We do get to choose how we respond to the things that happen to us. Yes.
And that’s a lesson that gets seared into your soul when you go through something like this.
When life isn’t so good, you gotta be able to manage that.
And by the grace of God, you can do it. His grace is sufficient for every day.
Thank you for being with us today.
Join doctor Jeremiah next time for a special interview hosted by Sheila Walsh, as doctor Jeremiah discusses how we can keep the faith, even in difficult times.
Here on turning point.